A child covered in mud on Lake Chokrak near the village of Kurortnoye, Leninsky District of Crimea in Russia on July 4, 2019. (Photo by Sergei Malgavko/TASS)

A tufted puffin is seen in Kamchatka Territory, Russia on July 17, 2018. (Photo by Yuri Smityuk/TASS)

A model stands in a light backstage after presenting the collection by Russian designer Alena Akhmadullina at The Russian State Library, one of the three national libraries of Russia, the largest library in the country, largest in Europe, in Moscow, Russia, on Wednesday, November 29, 2023. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP Photo)

Dancers perform during the opening ceremony before the Russia 2018 World Cup Group A football match between Russia and Saudi Arabia at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on June 14, 2018. (Photo by Sergei Bobylev/TASS via Getty Images)

In modern Russia there are no free elections, therefore the political elite is almost constant.

Photo: Valentina Matvienko, Mayor of St. Petersburg, attends the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) on June 17, 2011 in St. Petersburg, Russia. Global business leaders have gathered in Russia for the three-day conference. (Photo by Alexander Aleshkin/Epsilon/Getty Images)

Sukhoi Su-30SM jet fighters of the Sokoly Rossii (Falcons of Russia) aerobatic team fly in formation during the International Army Games 2016, in Dubrovichi outside Ryazan, Russia, August 5, 2016. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov/Reuters)

Take me away, deer, Russia. The Nenet people of Arctic Russia use reindeer and sledges as a prime mode of transport. The animals’ navigational ability means that in severe conditions they are sometimes the only hope of survival. (Photo by Kamil Nureev/Smithsonian Photo Contest)

Apollinariia Panfilova and Dmitry Rylov of Russia perform in the Pairs Short Program during day one of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Rostelecom Cup at Megasport Arena on November 20, 2020 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters)